Wolves’ poor run of form in the Premier League continued at the weekend as Manchester United held them at Old Trafford in a dull stalemate.
Nuno Santo’s side have now won just one of their last six outings, a spell that has seen them drop to eighth in the table, two points from Spurs in fifth.
The Portuguese boss made two changes with Willy Boly returning in defence for Leander Dendoncker and Diogo Jota replacing Pedro Neto, whilst new signing Daniel Podence was named on the bench.
On the Chalkboard
It was the first time since the Southampton game in October that the 6 foot 5 colossus has featured in the old gold shirt, having faced a spell on the sidelines after fracturing his fibula in training.
And he made an immediate impact, ending Wolves’ run without a clean sheet.
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The 29-year-old started on the right side of a back three, which also contained skipped Conor Coady and Romain Saiss, as the trio stopped the rot of conceding goals for the first time in nine matches.
Per SofaScore, Boly recorded four clearances, four interceptions, two tackles and won 100% of his aerial duels, so there’s no denying that his presence has helped contribute to a point at United.
Despite being absent for the best part three to four months, the Frenchman still ranks second for WhoScored rating in the Wolves squad at 7.34, only bettered by Adama Traore’s 7.75, and no player has surpassed his aerial duels won per game either (4.6).
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His towering presence in the heart of defence clearly makes a difference – in his absence in the top-flight they have kept just two clean sheets in 16 matches whilst that rises to three in nine with him in the starting XI, per Transfermarkt.
Nuno will be glad that his £13.5m-rated powerhouse back out there with the Europa League knockout stages soon on the horizon.
And in other news, Wolves fans have been naming their price for this Nuno signing…
